Coin holder for key chains and the like



Jan. 3, 1956 w. G. NAUMAN COIN HOLDER FOR KEY CHAINS AND THE LIKE Filed May 14. 1952 VIII/I II II III/II I EHIIIIIP-IIIIIIH HH I IIIlIII/In l lll-llllll INVENTOR WALTER G. NAUMAN mamas v com HOLDER non cnanss rm-mm Walter GNaummMilv'v'suieeWie Application May 14., 1952, Serial Not-287;?

rclnm. (Claw-31) j This invention appertains to coin holders-and ore ticularly to a novel coin holder adapted to be ad to "a key chain and which is an timprovement ovcr the coin holder and key chain combination set forth in any cc pending application, Serial No. 278,063, 51 March 1952. 2

'The coin holder disclosed in my co-pending appltca tion is designed primarily for use as an emergency :coin

holder for coins of the denomination'now use generally in parking meters and pay telephones. 'Br' my prior coin holder included a flat elongated -receptacle;body open at one end to receive the coins and whiehopen end isv provided with a round apperture threthrough-fsutiiciently large enough so as to free receive the-balls a ball key chain and a restricted slot communicatir'tg {with the round apperture at one eudjand'opening put a the other end of the coin holder. The restricted slots only 'a' sufficient width to receive the links betwee ti the balls. In this prior device it is necessary to modify the key chain so as to providean elongated'reduced on the balls which must bea ligned with she rest cted-slotjn order to attach or remove the holder from the chain The coin holder of the presentinventiqn is designed for similar use as anemergency hol der but onqwhich may quickly and readily be applied tocr detached from a conventional key chain without ing the key chains snap fastener or modify in any way.

A salient feature of the present jinvention-Rflides in the fact that the coin oldermay be attached to the key chain without necessitating any modification 'of the chain per se and when so attached will hbldfitsfpositipjn orifj'the chain and can not be accidentally screened thcfihoih emits Another object of my invention is it rovidej t'nea one end of my novel holder whereb itjnay to the chain by bending or camming thebi'itls of between any two balls on the chain the of lining up any particular portion of the key chain. 7

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a flat elongated key holder, the open end of which is provided with a restricted slot on its top and bottom wall, the width of which is slightly larger than the width or diameter of thelinks of the ball key chain; theside edges of the restricted slot having a taper or bevel whereby the respective balls of the ball key chain will ride on the bevel and cam the outer ends of the top. and bottom walls inwardly as the'holder is being applied to the chain.

A further important object of my invention resides in the fact that the inner end of each restricted slot terminates in a semi-spherical recess which receives the respective portions of the balls on the key chain and will firmly hold my coin holder in its locked position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a new and novel coin holder of the key chain type which is of an attractive appearance and of a comparatively small size, and one which can be placed upon the market-at a reasonable cost and one which will be durable and eflicient m use.

2,729,325 .fiatented Jan- 3, 1956 with above and other objects in view, which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is strucuon, combination and arrangement of parts here- 6 inafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

Apreferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings.

In which drawings: s. Figure l is a top plan view 'of my novel coin holder aflii'ted toa key chain), certain parts being broken away to better illustrate various details of construction;

1 igure 'l is a side elevational view of my coin holder showin in'particular how it is held to the ball key chain; Figure 3 is an end elevational view of my device showin; the coin holder in the same position on the key chain p as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings;

ig'ure 4 is a vertical -longitudinal section through my coin holder, the section being taken on the line 4--4 of Figure l and looking the direction of the arrows;

Figures 5 6, 7, and 8 are enlarged fragmentary longitudinal-sectional views illustrating the successive steps necessaryt'obecure my novel holder to a conventional tiotial view t'a en on the line 9- -9 of Figure 1 and showi ngin vparticular the inner bevel of the edges of the slot;

and" V n} 1 Tifiu-reld sihrilar enlarged fragmentary transverse sect-ion through the holder taken on the line 10--10 of Figure l -a'nd looking in the direction of the arrows.

Re'femng now. to the drawings in detail, wherein similar 'ie e'rence characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter H generally ind i'ca'te's one type of my improved coin holder and the same shown secured to a conventional key chain ssta'ted the keyclhainis; of the conventional type o des a 'series of balls 20 connected by the small links 2 an fprovided witlt the snap fastener 22.

Wh1le"n,iy coinholder j-H maybe made from any desirdlmateri al, int-thetpreferred form I use a clear translas'tic and the same. is molded to form an elongated fqceptae coinsFCi'" he receptacle 23 includes top and bottom walls 25' respectively which are joined by the side Walls 25,.and as shown. The receptacle 23 may be of as" desired vshap'e'or configuration to hold the coin C 1c" 2319? a sizcand configuration to receive the prefer to form the same with rounded rear and front ends and ZQ'reSpectively. The rear end 28 is provided with a small slot or'o'pening 30, the main purpose of which-is to enable the body to be molded in one piece and inov'eciirom thedies; The frontend 29 however, rs purposely opened and it is to be noted that the sides 26 and 27 respectively terminate substantially short of the forward end 29 to form an open space 31 between the top wall 24 and the bottom wall 25.

ceptacle 23 and the outer forward ends 29 of the top and bottom walls 24 and 25 respectively should be flexible and under -pressure without breaking and to resume their normal positions when the. pressure is released. The reason for this will be readily apparent as the description proceeds.

r The top and bottom walls, at the forward open end thereof, are each provided with longitudinally extending centrally positioned aligned slots 32 and 32'. 32 and 32 open out on the end 29 and extend inwardly to terminate adjacent a point intermediate the outer ends 33 of the side walls 26 and 27.

It is obvious that the slots 32 and 32' may open out at any point along the outer edge of the end 29, however, in the preferred embodiment I positioned the on the end 29. The opposed edges of the slots 32 and 32 are each provided with a tapered top and bottom to form a bevel 34 which becomes deeper towards the outer end of the slot.

The inner end of each slot 32 and 32 terminates in a semi-spherical recess 35 as shown, one recess'is formed in the upper surface of the top wall 24 and one in the lower surface of the bottom wall 25.

As shown more clearly in Figures 5 to 8 inclusive, the top edges of the slot 32 and the under edges of the slot 32 are tapered or beveled at 36 starting adjacent the semispherical recesses 35 and the taper becomes deeper tothe resilient outer ends 29 of the top and bottom walls --24 and 25 together so-that they will ride under the opwards the outer end 29. Although it is not absolutely I necessary, I prefer to also taper the inner edges of the top and bottom walls 24 and 25 as indicated by the numeral 37. v

The reason for the tapers 36 and 37 forming the 'be vels 34 will be clearly apparent from the following description of the preferred manner for attaching and detaching my coin holder H forming key chain K.-

Referring now in particular to Figures 5 to 8 inclusive of the drawings, it can be seen that, in order to attach my novel coin holder H to a conventional key chain K, it is merely necessary to stretch the chain between fingers so as to present a straight portion of the chain to the open end 29 of my coin holder H with one of the balls centrally aligned with the opened space 31. The end 29 is then brought into engagement with the key chain K and one of the balls 20 will be received in the space or opening 31 and the adjacent link portions 21 will be received in the open ends of the slots 32 and 32' as illustrated more particularly in Figures 5 and 6. The' chain and coin holder are then further moved toward each other in the direction of the arrows and it is to be.

noted that the taper portions 36 engage the respective" opposed surfaces of the balls 20 and the top and bottom walls 24 and respectively are cammed inwardly as shown by Figures 6 and 7. The chain continues to move inwardly until the opposed portions of the balls 20 snap into and are received in the respective semi-spherical re-f cesses 35. The resilient outer ends 29 of the top and bottom walls 24 and 25 then resume their normal position.

except that I prefer to keep the ends 29 of the'top and bottom walls under a slight tension so that the device will be firmly locked to the key chain K and will not, there: fore, he accidentally detached. Howeven'in order to 1'emove the coin holder H, it is merely necessary to again straighten the key chain and, grasping the coin holder in the other hand, to give a quick jerk. The halls will then be pulled out of the recesses 35 and off the end 29 to release the coin holder H so that the coin "C may be removed.

It is obvious, of course, that I may eliminate the bevels 34 and the tapers forming the same and manually press posed faces of the balls 20, the ball 20', of course, will be received in the space 31. However, as most conventional ball key chains come in various sizes, I prefer to taper the inner and outer edges at 36 and 37 as shown so that regardless of the spacing of the balls 20, there will always bef'room to accommodate the center ball 20 in the space 31 and, of course, it will be unnecessary to manually press: the top and bottom walls together as this will be done automatically by the camming action of the tapers 36.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, proportions, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claim.

Iclaimv In combination with'a key chain having a series of spaced balls joined by thin elongated links, a coin holder comprising, a relatively thin elongated body having integral top, bottom and side walls defining a receptacle therein opened at one end, said side walls terminating short of the top and bottom walls forming resilient end portions at the open end of said body, said top and bottom walls each having an aligned centrally disposed longitudinal slot therein opening out on the open end of said body, the opposed edges of each slot being beveled, said bevels being deeper at the open ends of said slots, the inner end of each slot terminating in a semi-spherical recess of a size and configuration to receive a respective portion of a ballof said key chain, said semi-spherical recesses each extending-into therespective top and bottom'wall-tor approximately one-half the thickness of said wall, said slots each being of a size and configuration to receive said links of said ball chain but of a lesser width than the diameter of said balls, whereby the opposed surfaces of any two balls will ride on the beveled surfaces of said slots with the adjacent links of said ball chain received in said slot to cam the resilient ends of said top and bottom walls toward one another and be received in the' semi+spherical=recess to firmly secure the coin holder to said chain.

. References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITEDI'STATES PATENTS 1 573,251 Webster Dec. 15, 1896 1,493,432 Edelin May 13, 1924 1,693,006 Thomas Nov. 27, 1928 1,730,246 sal fisberg Oct. 1, 1929 2,198,110 Fischer Apr. 23, 1940 Brown July 7, 1953 

